Hartland Covered Bridge

Located in Hartland New Brunswick being 1282 feet long the Hartland Covered Bridge is the longest covered bridge in the world, before the completion of the bridge on May 14,1901 the only way to cross the Saint John River was by ferry or ice bridges.  It is estimated that the construction cost of the Bridge was around $33,000 (close to a million now)

Longest wooden covered bridge in the world. Heartland NB (youtube.com)

The bridge was not originally build covered this happen on a later date in 1922.  A lot of the town people were against covering of the bridge, however even with all the oppositions and concerns of the town folks it was still covered.  For many years after the bridge was covered, snow had to be hauled into the bridge and  placed on the bridge floor to allow horses and sleighs to travel across it.



The pedestrian side walk was added in 1945 allowing for pedestrians to cross safely also making this a great tourist destination as the sides are open for looking out over the Saint John River.

Few facts:

In 1987 the Olympic Torch for the 1988 Winter Olympics made its way across this bridge.

In 1995 a Canadian postage stamp was issued honoring the bridge.

Declared a National Historic Site in 1980, and a Provincial Historic Site in 1999

In 1907 a fire burnt some of the structure and nearly destroyed the toll house      

      

Dr. Estey was the first person to cross the bridge before its scheduled opening; he had to respond to

an emergency call on the other side.  Bridge workers laid down planks for him to cross safely.

The bridge was inaugurated by Justice McKeowan on July 4, 1901  in front of a large crowd 2000 plus people attended.